Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Police Chief Darin Schierbaum held a joint press conference on Thursday to detail what they identified as a downward trend in crime within the city, but preliminary numbers published by the Atlanta Police Department (APD) in December 2023 reveal that not all types of crime are declining.
Dickens (pictured above) said during the press conference that the “major crime against people” was “down more than 15 percent,” with homicides down about 20 percent and rapes down about 50 percent since 2022.
“We ended 2023 with some numbers that prove we are really moving in the right direction,” Dickens told the crowd. “We are here to acknowledge the good, no the great work that so many people, including our public safety professionals have put into this year.”
However, preliminary data released by the APD last month showed that not all crime is down in Atlanta, and the overall crime rate actually rose 3 percent.
The department’s most recently published weekly crime report reflected an 18 percent decrease in crime against people, driven by a 49 percent decrease in rapes and a 22 percent decrease in homicides. Police also saw a 16 percent decrease in aggravated assaults.
Property crime rose 6 percent in 2023, however, driven by a 61 percent increase of motor vehicle thefts and a 22 percent increase in shoplifting. Other property crimes were on the decline, including a 10 percent decrease in thefts from motor vehicles and a 16 percent decrease in robberies.
In his remarks at the press conference, Schierbaum reportedly attributed the reduction in violent crime to the department’s ability to hire and retain police officers, which included a reduction in the number of officers who retired or resigned, according to 11 Alive.
Schierbaum, in addition to the preliminary data and the figures relayed by Dickens, told the press that Atlanta also saw an 18 percent decrease in shooting incidents and a 23 percent decrease in the number of people shot.
Atlanta experienced a spike in crime in 2022, and Republicans, including Lt. Governor Burt Jones, seized on public safety in their campaigns. Jones successfully won his election after promising to fully “fund our police [and] help restore law and order to our streets.”
Last year also saw a slight decrease in the population of the overcrowded and crumbling Fulton County Jail, which at one point housed more than 3,000 inmates despite originally being designed for about 1,000. A new jail is being considered, and one plan estimates a new facility could receive its first inmates in 2029.
An April agreement between the sheriffs of Fulton County and Forsyth County revealed the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) had a 149,200-case backlog, with the law enforcement professionals attributing the significant number of cases to pandemic-era court closures.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mayor Andre Dickens” by Atlanta News First.
